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Monday, April 27, 2015

A to Z Blogging Challenge - Winter Park

I love a good hotel and I love it even more if it is in a
good location. Like Winter Park and the Park Plaza hotel on Park Avenue. OMG, this hotel is so
well taken care of that its age feels like smooth single malt whiskey when you
walk in the door. Elegant without being over the top, it is genteel and
welcoming. It made me want to explore the building and history the moment I
walked up the stairs to our room. A dear friend, who lives in the oldest house
in Winter Park, told me his aunt was born in this hotel! I could do a post just
on this hotel.

The Park Plaza Hotel Today

The Park Plaze Hotel (L) circa 1922-23

The beautiful comfy Park Plaza lobby

The Park Plaza Hotel is a vestige of a bygone era, but the
town has more to it. Lakes, canals that you can tour, houses straight out of architectural
magazines (Gamble Roger’s father designed quite a few of them if you read my G
post), running paths, golf courses, Rollins College, museums, and restaurants
of almost any kind. They also have a Farmer’s Market right next to the downtown
park on weekends. Some Friday’s there is a free outdoor film showing in the
park.

A fountain in the park I played in as a child

Statuary can be found over in Winter Park

Movie night in the park, free!

A gazillionaire's mansion on the lake

And another one...

Fancy mailbox, show off! But so fun!

A typical street sign in downtown Winter Park

One of the canals one visits on a boat tour

All of these things add up to a beautiful place to visit, yet another,
something-for-everyone kind of place. Yes, Florida is full of them! Did I
mention restaurants?

32 comments:

Hi Lisa - I see it's in Orange County ... I'm so used to knowing that's on the other side of the country?! This sounds an amazing place - no wonder you are hooked on it ... and love visiting ... so would I .... cheers Hilary

I want to visit Winter Park. It is beautiful and so charming. I fell in love with everything you showed us in the photos. I found my dream home on the lake. I love canals and would love to explore in the canal in your photo. Lovely place and wonderful post.

Gorgeous place to visit Lisa. I would enjoy the canal tours especially. What I know of Florida I like. There are some great restaurants in both Kissimmee and Orlando. We sampled quite a few of them. There was an excellent Sushi bar in Kissimmee.

Looks like a lovely area and what a wonderful hotel. I'm very much a hotel person when it comes to holidays - no camping or caravans for me :) Well I don't mind staying in a tent as long as there are modern facilities to go with it - I fancy glamping at some point ;).TashaTasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)

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